Lok Sabha polls: Congress, NC to contest 3 seats each in J-K and Ladakh

NEW DELHI: Congress and National Conference on Monday announced the seat sharing agreement for the five constituencies of Jammu and Kashmir and one constituency of Ladakh.

The announcement was made at a joint press conference by senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Salman Khurshid and National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah and Congress leader Pawan Khera.

Under the seat sharing agreement, the Congress will contest from Jammu, Udhampur and Ladakh parliamentary constituencies, while the National Conference will contest from Anantnag-Rajouri, Srinagar and Baramulla Lok Sabha seats.

"Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) will fight the elections jointly in all the six constituencies. While the candidates have been announced for the Udhampur, Jammu and Anantnag-Rajouri constituencies, the remaining three candidates for Srinagar, Baramulla and Ladakh will also be announced soon," Omar Abdullah said.

He expressed confidence that INDIA will sweep all the six constituencies. Earlier, Peoples Democractic Party (PDP) on Sunday announced candidates for three Lok Sabha seats in Kashmir.

PDP leader Sartaj Madni announced that Mehbooba Mufti will contest the general elections from Kashmir's Anantnag-Rajouri constituency. Mufti will be in a political battle from the Anantnag-Rajouri seat against Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) leader Ghulam Nabi Azad.

The Lok Sabha polls in the Union Territory will be held in the first five phases on April 19 (Udhampur), April 26 (Jammu), May 7 (Anantnag-Rajouri), May 13 (Srinagar) and May 20 (Baramulla). Nearly 97 crore voters will be eligible to vote for 543 Lok Sabha constituencies across the country.

The elections for 543 Lok Sabha seats will be held in seven phases starting on April 19. The counting of votes has been scheduled for June 4.